★ 8 / 10
inspirational
jkholman
just reading the blurb and knowing that Cliff Robertson was a part of the film was enough for me to know that this was going to be a gem [although Robertson…
just reading the blurb and knowing that Cliff Robertson was a part of the film was enough for me to know that this was going to be a gem [although Robertson has made some horrible movies]. I got a pal of mine at work to run me a copy [grainy], and it surpassed my expectations. This film increased my resolve to attend rodeo school. Because it was something I always wanted and at forty-one years of age and never having ridden a horse I gave my wife and daughter a kiss and piled in my car for Georgia and the time of my life. Why rodeo? In the words of the author of RODEO: the Suicide Circuit, because it is the last place in these hard times where a man with nothing can meet it head on on his own *#*# terms and maybe do something. JW Coop conveys this perfectly. But this movie is not simply about rodeo. Like the film, the SAND PEBBLES, a man is trying to translate his existence into something meaningful. It is about a nobody going after the only thing in his life that makes sense. Just writing about it gets my blood up.Some would disagree with the ending, but I can see it no other way. If you want to see a movie about a man going after life this is one film sure to satisfy. I give JW COOP a three star [out of four] and it stands as one of my favorites.
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★ 7 / 10
J.W. COOP (Cliff Robertson, 1972) ***
Bunuel1976
Actor Cliff Robertson’s clout after his Oscar win in CHARLY (1968) allowed this personal venture which he wrote, produced and directed as well as starred in…
Actor Cliff Robertson’s clout after his Oscar win in CHARLY (1968) allowed this personal venture which he wrote, produced and directed as well as starred in; the film, though much admired in some circles and certainly well-made, is essentially dreary and somewhat overlong for its purpose. Incidentally, rodeo is not a subject which has been treated often by Hollywood: a couple more notable efforts were Nicholas Ray’s rare but highly regarded THE LUSTY MEN (1952) – which I recently acquired but have yet to watch – and Sam Peckinpah’s contemporaneous and better-known JUNIOR BONNER (1972).Anyway, the titular figure is an enthusiast of the sport who wants to pick up where he left off following a 10-year stint in jail for fraud; after a pathetic reunion with his senile mother (a cameo, despite her second billing, by a disheveled Geraldine Page), he sets off to seek a prominent spot in the National Finals. This entails a series of contests across the country – he starts off by hitching rides to each destination, then borrows a van (through a friend) from a military base but, after scoring a number of successes and winning a pile of money, he can afford to fly the rest of the way.Robertson meets spirited young hippie Cristina Ferrare; following the initial distrust (being a middle-aged uneducated cowboy himself, they have virtually nothing in common), he comes to appreciate her devoted presence by his side – however, when he finally proposes marriage, she quits him. Coop’s biggest rival is a brash stud half his age whose wealth is able to keep him well ahead of the game (getting to the various rodeo venues by way of a private plane). Still, our hero perseveres – but his dream seems to come to an end when he breaks a leg; undaunted, he decides to mount a particularly wild bull…but his triumph this time around is short-lived and he’s gored by the testy animal! Robertson elicits fine performances all around and shows great feeling for small-town America – as well as passion for his central theme (which isn’t so much about achieving one’s goals no matter what, as how this often rings hollow when all one has to show for it is loneliness). A nice folksy score supplies the perfect accompaniment to the film’s attractive photography – offsetting the generally downbeat tone and the occasional instance of self-conscious direction (such as the use of abrupt zooms or Coop’s slow-motion last ride). Equally agreeable are its sparse moments of humor – namely the cowboy’s ironic home address, 1313 Luck Road, requested by an apologetic cop when he’s forced to give him a ticket (Coop’s driving his late father’s ‘smoking’ broken-down car) and the incident in the diner’s lavatory where rednecks attack the hero’s black pal but, even outnumbered, they beat up their assailants and, when the cops arrive, Robertson justifies the mess by claiming the locals had been making “weird advances”!
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6.5/10
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